Battle Supremacy Review

Atypical Games made a name for itself with Sky Gamblers, a series of combat flight sims with an emphasis on sharp visuals and energetic dogfighting. Its latest outing, Battle Supremacy, trades B-15 bombers for Panzer III tanks — and speed for lumbering, destructive power.

Stretched over the French, Russian, and Pacific Theatres of World War II, Battle Supremacy’s campaign is full of unimaginative, bog-standard objectives, punctuated by optional bonus missions that allow you to drive a Jeep or fly a fighter plane. When your surprisingly fragile platoon inevitably gets gunned down, unskippable cut-scenes and glacial movement speeds make getting back into the action more arduous than it should be. This repetitive and monotonous single-player trek is thankfully just a prelude, however, as Battle Supremacy has excellent online multiplayer.

Sluggishness makes the campaign seem slow and plodding, but it turns Battle Supremacy's multiplayer skirmishes into tense, purposeful chess matches. Multiplayer modes run the gamut from team deathmatch to king of the hill, but they all share a focus on positioning, tactics, and movement. The various multiplayer maps are huge, and most of the environment is destructible, so isolating lone enemies and flanking opposing groups is the order of the day. There’s even a pseudo-stealth aspect, as a falling tree or burning building can clue you in to enemy positions (and vice versa).

The combination of slow movement and long reload times makes Battle Supremacy feel more like a turn-based game than a third-person shooter, but it takes timing, patience, and anticipation to bring the full weight of an M4 Sherman to bear on one’s enemies. At least in its multiplayer modes, Battle Supremacy deftly balances cerebral strategizing with the simple pleasure of blowing stuff up with a really big gun.

Battle Supremacy’s multiplayer modes are enjoyable despite the game’s controls: the virtual joystick used to steer the tank is unresponsive, and the camera and cannon controls are often indistinguishable. Atypical Games’ devotion to authenticity is understandable in terms of visual fidelity and historical accuracy, but these clumsy, awkward controls don’t add tension or nuance, just tetchy annoyance.